Posted By Paul Flannery On May 4, 2010 @ 9:47 pm In General | No Comments

What was supposed to be an off day in their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup with the Celtics[1] turned into a full day of news from the Cavaliers[2].

The team elected to watch film in Cleveland Tuesday, even though they had a scheduled off day. Cavs coach Mike Brown[3] ripped his team’s effort after Game 2 in which the Celtics evened the series with a decisive 104-86 victory[4].

“We have to decide if we are going to take the fight to them and take these games,” Brown said. “Ain’t a [expletive] thing is going to be given to us at all in this series. Plain and simple, they kicked our behind. This series is one to one. We are going to see what we’re made of in Game 3.’

The bigger story, however, is that LeBron James[5] is scheduled to have another MRI on right elbow before Friday’s Game 3. He had one last week before the Cavs closed out the Bulls in their first-round series that revealed a bone bruise and a sprained elbow. James admitted that he started Game 1 tentatively[6] and he faced questions after Game 2 when he attempted 15 shots (he also had 15 free throws).

Also, Anderson Varejao was examined by the team’s physician[7] after back spasms took him out of Game 2. He is listed as day to day.Varejao was one of the few Cavs big men who played well in Game 2 and he was doing his best to try to rile up the Celtics.

This is a potentially huge problem for the Cavs who are getting minimal production out of Shaquille O’Neal[10] and are also looking at big matchup problem with Antawn Jamison[11] guarding Garnett. The Celtics believe they can exploit this matchup throughout the series and they have made a concerted effort to isolate Garnett on the left block against Jamison.

Rivers wants Garnett to look for his own offense more, which runs counter to his nature.

“He’s got to stay on that,” Rivers said between games. “He fights his own self because people don’t get that. They criticize him for being unselfish which is the craziest thing on earth, but that is who he is.”

Garnett has been aggressive. He tied a season-high with 20 shot attempts in Game 1 and shook off a slow first-half in Game 2 in which he went 2-for-9, by making his first three shots in the third quarter when the Celtics dominated play.

“Kevin was playing way too fast in the first half but he was still a concern on the post,” Rivers said after Game 2. “They’re trapping. They’re worried about him right now.”

Varejao is the key to the Cavs multiple frontcourt lineups because he can play both the four and five spots and is a much better defender than J.J. Hickson. Without him in the lineup, the Cavs have to either play small with James and either Jamison or Hickson up front, or go big with either O’Neal or Zydrunas Ilgauskus, which makes them much slower.

For their part, the Celtics took the day off and are scheduled to resume practice Wednesday.